Arpita Bhattacharyya and Michael Werz, of Heinrich Böll Stiftung and the Center for American Progress, respectively, just released a report titled “Climate Change, Migration,and Confict in South Asia.” According to the authors:
South Asia will be among the regions hardest hit by climate change. Higher temperatures, more extreme weather, rising sea levels, increasing cyclonic activity in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, as well as floods in the region’s complex river systems will complicate existing development and poverty reduction initiatives. Coupled with high population density levels, these climate shifts have the potential to create complex environmental, humanitarian, and security challenges. India and Bangladesh, in particular, will feel the impacts of climate change acutely.
Bhattacharyya and Werz propose “three policy collaborations that the United States can take up with South Asian partners as complex crisis scenarios unfold in the wake of climate change,” including:
High-level climate-vulnerable cities workshop
A dialogue on migration
Ecological infrastructure development